Susan Granger’s review of “The Chronicles of Narnia” (Buena Vista Pictures/Walt Disney)
This C.S. Lewis’ children’s classic, subtitled “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” joins “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Harry Potter” series as yet another fantasy adapted to film.
During W.W.II in London, the four Pevensie children – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) – are sent to live in the countryside with an old professor (Jim Broadbent). One day, while playing hide-and-seek, Lucy stumbles into a huge wardrobe that leads to the alternate universe of Narnia, where she’s befriended by a kindly faun, Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), and learns of the terrible curse by the malevolent White Witch (Tilda Swinton): 100 years of winter – with no Christmas. Despite their initial cynicism, Lucy’s siblings soon join her there, along with an elusive lion king, Aslan (Liam Neeson’s voice), and two bickering beavers (voiced by Ray Winstone and Dawn French).
Much has been written about C.S. Lewis’ spiritual roots, specifically how Aslan symbolizes Jesus, particularly in the sacrifice of his life. That simplistic Christian element is heavy-handedly emphasized by writers Christopher Markus, Ann Peacock and Stephen McFeely, working with director Andrew Adamson on the good-versus-evil theme, encompassing loyalty, betrayal and redemption. The CGI, animation, and prosthetics are incredible – the astounding variety of fairy-tale creatures: mythic centaurs (half-man, half-horse), minotaurs (half-man, half-bull), satyrs, goblins, gryphons, harpies, etc. And the climactic battle with 20,000 characters is far more lavish than C.S. Lewis ever dreamed! On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Chronicles of Narnia” is an imaginative, allegorical 7, although literary subtlety is lost to the patently obvious.
